The old elevator made a creaking sound. The sound was like a strong summer wind passing through the ruins and valleys, like a dead old tree howling desperately.
Penny glanced blankly at the young man leading the way who was wearing big earrings and a gold ring, "Is there anything wrong with this elevator?"
He Ao sent a message to Penny this morning and called her two taxis, asking her to take everyone to the Hope Building to join the other wilderness wanderers.
There were ten of them, including the young man He Ao rescued, who all came together.
"There's no problem. This elevator was just maintained three years ago."
The young man with the big gold ring looked back at Penny and said with a smile.
Penny looked at the rusty iron sheet in the elevator and the rust-covered retractable fence door in front of her that didn't match the style of the elevator at all, and nodded slowly and cautiously.
When she nodded, her wandering eyes could even see the rough welding joints between the iron fence door and the edge of the elevator.
Obviously, the iron gate and elevator are not original.
If she hadn't left the city yet, she would have even thought that this was a camp in the wilderness, a wilderness wanderer camp that dug out architectural relics from the Cataclysm era and then used all kinds of junk to rebuild human society.
Petunia didn't expect that there was such a place in the city.
Compared with the hotel where she and He Ao lived before, this place is simply a ruin.
boom--
The old elevator shook violently, and stopped as everyone lost their balance.
The retractable fence door slowly opened, and what caught Petunia's eyes was a dilapidated square. Densely packed dirty curtains were crisscrossed and hung across the square, barely dividing the square into small 'livable' grids.
Room'.
A foul, fishy smell mixed with feces and urine hit my face.
However, the environment in the wilderness is much worse than this, and the people standing here are not the kind of people who have never seen the world. Everyone just showed a little surprise on their faces, but there was no other sign.
The young man wearing the big gold ring glanced at the surprised people behind him, smiled and spread his hands,
"Welcome to the Hope Building, where people without hope live."
Then he turned around and led everyone forward, "This floor is not our destination. To get there, we have to take another elevator."
Penny followed the young man blankly, passing by the 'rooms' surrounded by dirty and smelly curtains.
Most of these curtains are not tightly sealed and are only fixed to the ground by some bricks or ropes. There are wide gaps all over the place where the curtains meet.
Through these gaps, Penny saw unkempt people.
They sat together on the dirty floor, and most of them had a yellowed mattress next to them, which was where they slept.
When Penny and others passed a certain room, a little girl stood up and lay on the crack watching them.
Her eyes are as beautiful as pearls.
She was lying on the curtain, her small body pushing the curtain forward, and her messy hair like withered yellow straw painted on the worn curtain, creating a shadow.
She looked at Penny curiously and at the group of people passing behind the curtain.
After a while, she withdrew her gaze, sat back on her yellow mat, took out a cold, dark starch stick from the side, and bit into it with difficulty.
Petunia turned her gaze away from the little girl. Most of the people on this floor were not as curious as the little girl. Their eyes were cloudy and numb. They allowed Petunia and others to walk by as if they had not seen anything.
"them···"
Penny spoke softly.
"I know what you want to ask," the young man standing at the front said slowly. He lit a cigarette, held it in his hand, and said as he walked,
"You want to ask why they are here. Every 'gentleman and lady' who comes here from the city will have such questions, but I didn't expect that you wilderness wanderers would also have such questions."
Then the young man didn't give Penny time to respond, and continued, "Some of them were born here, and some came here because they couldn't live outside.
Some of them are in debt to the consortium, and every salary will be deducted by the consortium, making it impossible to survive outside.
Some were born with no property, no land, no houses, and nothing else. They didn't even have money to study, so they relied on doing odd jobs outside to make ends meet. Some worked as waiters, and some helped factories do simple manual work.
Of course, these jobs have little income and cannot even help them afford the cheapest rent. They either wander on the streets or spend a little money to live here.
This floor is the cheapest, with weekly rents ranging from 5 to 18 federal dollars. If you can afford more, you hope the building also has single rooms or apartments with kitchens. The highest rent will not exceed per hour.
For 100 federal dollars a week, the cheapest houses in Chenxi City are here.
Of course, you can't expect anything from the environment.
Living here at least has a shelter from the wind and rain and is managed by someone, which can only be said to be better than sleeping on the street."
"Who's running this place?"
Penny asked doubtfully.
"Gangs, all kinds of big and small gangs, blond gang, black-haired gang, bald gang, noodle gang, you name it. They are each responsible for their own area, and they maintain the basic order here,"
The young man held the cigarette in his mouth, "But there are also fights among the gangs here. If you encounter them, stay away."
Having said this, the young man looked back at the 'room' behind him where the little girl who had just looked at them was.
"That little girl, during the last gang shootout downstairs, her father was hit by a stray bullet and died because he was nearby. Their family of three originally lived in a single room downstairs. After their father died, they had to move up. Every day, his mother
Work a few jobs, want to move back home, and even send her to school."
The young man turned around and sighed, "There are many such people on this floor. Some of them succeeded, moved to other floors, and even left the Hope Building, but the vast majority of them stayed here forever.
.”
He raised his head and suddenly found that the girl in front of him had disappeared.
······
The little girl bit into the dark starch stick with difficulty, when she suddenly heard the sound of rapid footsteps.
A dark-skinned girl appeared in front of the crack. She glanced at the little girl and handed over a piece of bread that was still wrapped.
The little girl blinked, clenched the starch stick in her hand, and looked at her suspiciously and warily.
Penny looked at the little girl's expression, reached out and tore open the bread bag in her hand, tore off a small piece and put it in her mouth to eat, then handed the bread over again.
The little girl blinked again. She rummaged around the mattress and found a silver glass bead. She wiped it clean with her clothes and handed it to Petunia.
Penny glanced at the glass bead and nodded slightly.
The little girl showed a smile, she put the glass beads into Petunia's hand, and then quickly took the bread from Petunia's hand.
She carefully tore off a small piece of bread and stuffed it into her mouth, then looked at the bread in her hand, paused, carefully closed the bread bag, and stuffed it under the mattress.
When she raised her head again, the girl standing in front of the crack had disappeared.
······
Penny returned to the team, and the young man did not ask her where she was, but still led them into the next elevator.
Penny's bread was bought for them by He Ao before and she ate most of it last night.
What was left was divided into portions for everyone to use for brunch when they came over. She gave away her piece of bread.
The elevator still made a creaking sound as they went up and finally reached the top floor.
The young man took them out of the elevator, and what they saw was a wide space.
Weak wilderness wanderers were sitting on the ground one by one, and some young wilderness wanderers with a little strength were distributing food in an orderly manner.
Ronald's camp has placed great emphasis on discipline and order since Ronald's father's time, and these things have been engraved in the bones of this generation of young people who grew up in the camp.
This makes the food distribution organized by them very orderly, and there is no looting situation.
Of course, not every wilderness wanderer is adapted to such an order, but out of respect for He Ao, who rescued them, and respect for the loaded guns in the hands of those who maintained the order, they did not show any disrespect.
Cooperate.
"This area was originally the headquarters of a big gang in Hope Building. Boss Victor just took care of them two days ago, so this area became vacant,"
The young man smiled and glanced at the orderly wilderness wanderers, "To be honest, you don't really feel like wilderness wanderers to me."
Then he waved his hand and walked towards the elevator, "We will deliver the food on time for the past two days. I hope you will recover soon."
Penny looked at the surrounding wilderness wanderers again, when a surprised voice suddenly came from the crowd, "Penny? Linda?"
"Duck?"
Penny was stunned.
Duck was the young man who held a shovel in the factory and took advantage of the power outage to lead the wilderness wanderers to resist the foreman. When he saw Penny, he came over excitedly.
Duck and Penny were originally in the same hunting team and had a very good relationship. He liked Penny's cousin Linda.
The three of them met again, smiling happily and chatting while walking.
Penny also shared what happened in the wilderness with Duck and Linda.
When they heard that He Ao killed Ku Yuan, took Ku Yuan's body back to the temporary camp, and dug out Ku Yuan's heart, both of them were extremely excited.
At the end of the discussion, Penny saw the densely packed wilderness wanderers and suddenly asked softly, "Has the leader said how to arrange everyone?"
"No," Dak shook his head, "I just said he would settle here temporarily."
"We can go back to the wilderness," Penny looked at the dense crowd and said softly, "With so many people, we may be able to rebuild a more glorious camp."
Hearing this, Duck fell into silence.
After a long time, Duck looked at the wilderness wanderers in the square and said slowly, "In fact, no one is willing to return to the wilderness."
He has spent time in a factory and knows the thoughts of people in the factory.
"Why?"
Linda on the side asked softly.
"Because there are no strange beasts here."
Penny answered on behalf of Duck. She looked at Duck, "But the city doesn't welcome us."
Duck lowered his head and fell into silence.
Except for Penny, all the wilderness wanderers here have already expired their visas, and will be expelled from the city once they are discovered.
Living in the city, they have to avoid the FBI and the Morningside Police Department. Gangs and gangsters are not friendly to them. If they can't find formal jobs, they can only find ways to get jobs that don't require social security numbers.
Dak had already asked people from the Money Rat Gang before if there was such a job.
Yes, but the price is low and the money earned can only enable them to live in the Hope Building.
They can only live like mice in the city.
Or one day, they will be captured again by factories like Kyle Manufacturing Company and become disposable labor.
But even so, they don't want to go back to the wilderness, where they never know who will come first, dawn or death.
Even a once-prosperous camp like Ronal's camp would be destroyed by a monster attack.
Every time a camp or family in the wilderness is attacked, many lives will be taken away. Countless people become meals for strange beasts, or become a hotbed of flesh and blood for them to hatch their offspring.
You can live in the city.
Even if you are like a mouse, living a humble life with a shortened life span.
The three of them fell into silence at the same time.
Silent dark clouds covered the sky.
——
By the time He Ao arrived at Hope Building, it was almost evening.
The sky was shrouded in dark clouds like night. He Ao passed by the wilderness wanderers one after another, and finally saw a lonely figure in the corner.
Penny stood alone in front of the huge floor-to-ceiling window, staring at the city full of brilliant lights under the black clouds and dark sky.
She stood quietly there.
He didn't even notice that his arm was cut open by a sharp piece of scrap steel, and blood with a faint green glow overflowed from the long wound.
She seemed to hear footsteps behind her and turned her head.
He looked at He Ao in confusion.
He Ao stood beside her, gazing with her at this glorious city under the dark clouds.
"leader,"
Penny spoke softly, a tear sliding down the side of her face, "Why do we either have to face the dangerous wilderness, or live a humble and fearful life in the city?"
She raised her head and stared at He Ao,
"Did we do something wrong? Are we just born in the wilderness and have to bear such a fate?"
She looked at He Ao, tears welling up like spring water. She seemed to have been drained of all her strength, and staggered to the ground, "Are we born wrong?"
He Ao knelt down, hugged her gently, and patted her back.
Penny looks a lot like Ronald in his youth.
He Ao stared into the void, as if saying to this girl, or to himself,
"It's not us who's wrong."
－－－－－－Digression－－－－－
On this day next year, the clouds will go away, but I will laugh at the fact that the world is busy raising children.
